NOOR SURIB

Yemen- Yemen ranked 169th out of 180 countries on the 2022 Press Freedom Index of the Reporters Without Borders' (RSF). Since 2015, Yemeni journalists have faced arrest, blackmail, detention and torture.

Women journalists are subjected to arbitrary detention and arrest

 Hanan Ahmed al-Haidari, secretary-general of Women Journalists without Chains (WJWC) in Sana'a was arrested along with her baby and sister on their way back from Aden in November 2018. After being arrested, they were taken to the intelligence building of the Houthis. On March 28, 2022, the Houthis arrested journalist Nadia Moqbel while she was reporting about the spurge of the prices of foodstuffs in Ramadan. After being kept in detention for 41 days, she was released. Yemeni anchorwoman Ashwaq al-Yarimi has been kept in prison since she was arrested in January 2023 for traveling to Dhamar Governorate without a Mahram (male guardian).

‘The Houthis ignore the law’

Noura Al-Jarwi, Director of Coalition of Women for Peace in Yemen, was herself a target of such arbitrary detention. “I have supported and helped many women kept in Houthi prisons. We have documented that 1,981 women have been arrested since December 2017. There were women journalists, reporters and activists among them. While the identities of most of them were not reported, the reasons for their arrests were kept confidential. These women were arrested for expressing their thoughts; they did not commit any crime.  According to the law, there is freedom of expression in Yemen, but the Houthis ignore the law,” Noura Al-Jarwi told NuJINHA.

Hala Fouad Badawy acquitted of all charges

On December 30, 2021, journalist and media activist Hala Fouad Badawy was arrested due to her reports and social media posts by the Yemeni military intelligence command in Hadhramaut Governorate. In January 2022, she was charged with “spying and communicating with foreign agencies” and sent to the Central Prison in Mukalla city, the capital of Hadhramaut governorate. After being kept in prison for 100 days, she was released on bail. On December 7, 2022, she was acquitted of all charges against her.

‘Women journalists must be immediately released’

Lina Al-Hassani, the president of the Adalah for Rights and Freedoms, demands the immediate release of arrested journalists. “It is necessary to provide protection for journalists, media workers, and activists. We call on the international community and international human rights organizations to put pressure on the Houthis for the immediate release of women journalists, media workers and activists.”